George Washington University Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences

George Washington University Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences We invite our current students, prospective students, alums, and friends to see what we're up to at area's many and varied resources.

The Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences is one of the largest undergraduate programs in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences with respect to the number of declared majors. In addition, the department awards approximately 10 PhD degrees each year through its doctoral programs. At all levels of instruction, the educational programs make extensive use of and focus upon the Washington, D.C. Led by Department Chair Sarah Shomstein, the department consists of more than 50 professionals, 29 of which are tenured/tenure track faculty. In addition, there are visiting, part-time, adjunct, and research faculty, as well as graduate teaching and research assistants. The first PhD awarded by the department was in 1923 to Fred Moss. His dissertation research was "A Study of Animal Drives". Moss went on to receive an MD from the George Washington University. He is best known as the creator of the MCAT, the medical school admissions test that served as a forerunner of numerous aptitude tests such as the SAT. The second PhD was awarded to Thelma Hunt, 1927, on "The Measurement of Social Intelligence". Dr. Hunt also received a medical degree from the George Washington University, and served as department chair from 1938-1963. Over 100 PhDs have been awarded by the department over the years, and our graduates have found success in competitive job searches around the country. Today, the department continues to flourish.

10/01/2026

Everyone, meet Sam Rosenthal! Sam is a first-year Cognitive Neuroscience Doctoral student primarily working with Dr. Dwight Kravitz. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 2025 with a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology, East Asian History, and Comparative Human Development. At his previous institution, he worked in Dr. Wilma Bainbridge’s Brain Bridge Lab, a lab focused on cognition and memory. There, he was a research assistant for a year before running his own project analyzing the effect (or lack thereof) of sleep on memory. His research interests involve naturalistic scene perception in relation to objects within those scenes, and investigating how those objects impact subjective scene judgements. In his free time, he enjoys playing roleplaying games, cooking, and reading fantasy novels.

Take us out to the ballgame! Students and faculty enjoyed a beautiful night at the annual Nats game department outing!
09/25/2026

Take us out to the ballgame! Students and faculty enjoyed a beautiful night at the annual Nats game department outing!

See this piece in GW Today about GW Votes that highlights the work of Michael Rodriguez! Michael is an alum of our under...
09/24/2026

See this piece in GW Today about GW Votes that highlights the work of Michael Rodriguez! Michael is an alum of our undergraduate program and is one of our current 1st year MS students! Great work, Michael!

Help with registering, voting by mail and other topics is available.

Congrats to our Undergraduate Psychology program, which is tied at #50 for national universities (out of a pool of 425 ...
09/23/2026

Congrats to our Undergraduate Psychology program, which is tied at #50 for national universities (out of a pool of 425 departments) on the latest US News & World Report rankings. This is a testament to our hardworking and devoted faculty and staff, and our terrific students!

The institution ranked 59th in the 2027 report recognizing the top colleges and universities in the United States, with undergraduate nursing and business programs ranking in the top 20.

Please join us in congratulating Clinical Psychology PhD student Justino Flores on his recent first-authored publication...
09/23/2026

Please join us in congratulating Clinical Psychology PhD student Justino Flores on his recent first-authored publication:

Flores, J. J., Kalwicz, D. A., del Río-González, A. M., Hernandez, J. I., Rendina, H. J., Onochie, K. C., & Calabrese, S. K. (2026). HIV educational video content and presentation style preferences among English- and Spanish-speaking US sexual and gender minorities. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2026.2724023

Clinical Psychology PhD students David Kalwicz and Kosy Onochie, Clinical psychology faculty Dr. Sarah Calabrese, and Applied social psychology PhD alumna (and Milken Institute School of Public Health faculty) Dr. Ana Maria del Río-González also contributed as co-authors.

Congratulations to all!

Sexual and gender minorities in the USA are disproportionately impacted by HIV, highlighting the need for tailored prevention and treatment interventions. Video-based tools have emerged as promisin...

Congratulations to the newly inducted members of the Psi Chi International Honor Society! Graduate Students:- Aren Kilad...
09/23/2026

Congratulations to the newly inducted members of the Psi Chi International Honor Society!

Graduate Students:
- Aren Kiladjian Psy.D. Clinical
- Wang Yui Martin Lee Psy.D. Clinical
- Anzhelika Parenchuk Ph.D. Applied Social
- Nergiz Yilmaz Psy.D. Clinical

Undergraduate Students:
- Kelly Gimpel (Junior) Major: Psychological and Brain Sciences
- Chloe Le (Junior) Major: Psychological and Brain Sciences
- Eliana Speckhardt (Junior) Major: Psychological and Brain Sciences
- Megan Tibbetts (Junior) Major: Psychological and Brain Sciences

We hope the Fall semester is off to a great start! We are excited to welcome back our students and excited to introduce ...
09/21/2026

We hope the Fall semester is off to a great start! We are excited to welcome back our students and excited to introduce our new cohort of students to our Applied Psychology MS program!

Over the next few weeks, we will be introducing our new group of students, so stay tuned!

What a fantastic turnout for our first PBS event of the year! Looking forward to a great semester and year ahead!! Mark...
09/12/2026

What a fantastic turnout for our first PBS event of the year! Looking forward to a great semester and year ahead!!

Mark your calendars for our next event: Applying to Graduate School (Friday, October 2nd from 2:30-4:30pm in USC 301)

08/22/2026

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Alana Rule, a recent graduate of the Clinical Ph.D. Program for her publication in the Journal of Black Psychology. This article is part of her dissertation data and is entitled: Black Girlhood is Sacred, yet Stolen: Expanding the Taxonomy of Gendered Racial Microaggressions among Black Adolescent Girls (DOI: 10.1177/00957984261485370/ ID: JBP-25-11-157.R2).

Congratulations Alana!

Dr. Stephen Mitroff's mentorship has reached a larger audience! The Scientist released, "Navigating the Job Market: Care...
06/29/2026

Dr. Stephen Mitroff's mentorship has reached a larger audience! The Scientist released, "Navigating the Job Market: Career Advice for Graduating College Students." This paper, co-authored by Dr. Vijeth Iyengar, summarizes a decade's worth of career advice given by industry professionals.

Read the full article here:

A unique psychology seminar course generated a decade’s worth of career advice for first time job seekers, including the importance of relationship building and flexibility.

Address

2013 H Street , NW
Washington D.C., DC
20052

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when George Washington University Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The School

Send a message to George Washington University Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences:

Shortcuts

Share

Category